Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
In general, an operating panel in which switches for operating various systems such as an air conditioner and an audio system disposed in a vehicle are incorporated, is disposed in the vicinity of a driver""s seat. Some vehicles have a switch also on a rear seat side for operating the air conditioner, but a user must move to the seat position to operate the rear side switch. The same can be said for the audio system.
Such an inconvenience can be overcome by providing the operating panel with a remote control function so that the driver can operate the rear side switch while sitting on the driver""s seat.
However, in the conventional structure, the number of switches which can be operated utilizing the remote control function is limited and is extremely small, and the position of the switch is irrelevant to a position of the user (position of the seat). That is, no consideration is given to a user for easily finding the particular portion to be operated from various portions in the vehicle.
In recent years, video systems and headphone system connected to DVDs and the like have become widespread. In this case, a plurality of persons may simultaneously use a sound source through individual headphones, and if the operating panel has the remote control function only like the conventional switch, operation for operating the system becomes difficult.
Further, in a conventional power window switch system, power window switches capable of opening and closing windows of all the seats are collectively disposed, and a window glass of each seat is opened and closed using an exclusive switch of the seat. Therefore, when a vehicle has seats in three rows for example, it is impossible to operate a front seat side window glass from a rear seat.
As described above, the conventional switch system is not designed such that a particular function to be operated can easily be found from various portions in a vehicle, and there is a problem that it is troublesome to select and operate a desired switch function corresponding to the particular portion from the various switch functions.
For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H9-109801 disclosed a collective switch in which switches corresponding to various portion of a vehicle is provided on a case having a vehicle""s shape so that a user can easily find and operate the system of a particular portion to be operated from various systems of the vehicle.
However, this collective switch has only one switch function for a particular portion. Therefore, there is a problem that this switch cannot be applied to a case in which the particular portion has a plurality of systems and these systems are individually operated.
The present invention relates to a multi-function switch system for operation of various systems of a vehicle for example, and more particularly, to a multi-function switch capable of easily finding a particular system to be operated from various systems a vehicle, and capable of easily and reliably selecting and operating a desirable switch function corresponding to the particular system from various switch functions.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a multi-function switch system capable of easily finding a particular system to be operated from various systems of a vehicle, and capable of easily and reliably selecting and operating a desirable switch function corresponding to the particular system from various switch functions.
To achieve the above object, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a multi-function switch system comprising, a mode selection switch for selecting any one of various switch modes in accordance with a predetermined selecting operation, a display for displaying a mode screen corresponding to a switch mode selected by the mode selection switch and comprising a plurality of divided selection screens, and for displaying an operation state for each of selection screens of the corresponding mode screen, and a clear key disposed on an upper face side of the display for displaying the mode screen displayed on the display, and provided in corresponding to the plurality of divided selection screens, and comprising a plurality of key tops capable of selecting a function in each mode by a pressing operation.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the multi-function switch system of the first aspect, an end of each of the key tops is provided with an indicator display for showing which selection screen corresponding to the key top is active.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the multi-function switch system of the first aspect, a case body constituting the multi-function switch system has an outward shape which looks like a structure having various apparatuses to be switched, the case body is provided at its upper face with a display window through which the mode display selected by the mode selection switch is displayed, and the clear key on which the plurality of key tops are arranged in correspondence with seat positions of the structure, and the case body is provided at its side face with a dial switch as the mode selection switch.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the multi-function switch system of the third aspect, the structure is a vehicle, and various systems such as an air conditioner, an audio system a power window, and a door lock are to be switched, and the plurality of clear keys are arranged in correspondence with the seat positions of the vehicle.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the multi-function switch system of the first aspect, the multi-function switch system further comprises a wireless remote control function for transferring a command corresponding to each of the modes selected by the mode selection switch and the clear key by means of an optical signal or a wireless signal.
According to the first aspect, the display displays the mode screen corresponding to a switch mode selected by the mode selection switch and comprises a plurality of divided selection screens, and displays the operation state for each of the selection screens of the corresponding mode screen. Therefore, when the invention is applied to a vehicle, for example, it is possible to easily find a desired system in a particular portion from systems in various positions in the vehicle by visually checking the operational state (indicator) displayed on the plurality of clear keys, and it is possible to easily and reliably select and operate a desired switch function corresponding to the system in the particular position from the various switch functions by merely pressing the clear key selected from the plurality of clear keys.
Further, the display can display a large number of various switch functions hierarchically. Therefore, the multi-function switch system is applied to a vehicle, for example, even if the number of systems in the vehicle is increased, it is possible to cope with it without changing the design of the display system, and a desired switch function can easily be selected.
Furthermore, a user can visually check the selected mode whenever a mode of the various switch functions is switched and hence, operational error in switch operation of the indicator display for each mode can be prevented.
According to the second aspect, in the plurality of key tops, the indicator showing whether the indicator displayed on the display is displayed by the active indicator is displayed on the key top end of the key top which displays the active indicator and therefore, the user can understand which key should be pressed and can operate irrespective of a mode selected by the mode selection switch and therefore, the use can reliably visually check the indicator which is displayed on each of the plurality of key top.
Thus, when this multi-function switch system is applied to a vehicle, for example, it is possible to more easily and reliably select and operate a desirable switch function corresponding to the particular system from various systems in the cabin, and it is possible to more easily and reliably select and operate a desired switch function corresponding to the system in the particular position from the various switch functions.
According to the third and fourth aspects, the case body has the outward shape which looks like the structure having various systems, and the plurality of clear keys are arranged in correspondence with seat positions of the structure arranged on the clear keys. Thus, it is possible to immediately recognize the seat position in the structure. Further, the mode can be selected by dial operation in such a manner that a user sees the display window through which the mode displayed by the display is displayed and checks the selected mode. Therefore, when this multi-function switch system is applied to a vehicle, for example, it is possible to enhance the operability of the multi-function switch system by a user.
According to the fifth aspect, the multi-function switch system in which the various switch functions integrated has the remote control function. Thus, when this multi-function switch system is applied to a vehicle for example, user can switch the mode of the various switch functions no matter where the user sits.